Comfort Food - Banana's and Custard with Melty Chocolate

There are times when you should never go shopping. 

Everyone says that you should never go shopping when you're hungry. To be honest, I've found that this isn't too much of an issue for me. Usually - what's appealing to me in the grocery store when I'm hungry is anything you can smell - which is usually the same as anything that's hot. 'Baked in store' is  usually what draws me in - and I don't actually buy that much from the bakery section. Especially as I usually buy my bread when it's on reduced, and so it's been taken to the refrigerated section. If I am buying something from the bakery section - it's usually because I have a specific end result in mind and so I normally know exactly what I'm getting, and so there aren't many impulse buys. 

And anyway - we all know what smells good in the bakery section are the sweet pastries, and I don't actually even like them all that much and so they're not that hard to resist.

What I found out last December is that you should never go grocery shopping when you are studying. A lot of things found their way into my basket that I'd managed to resist all semester. (Yes, I'm looking at you vegan yogurt, permissions, snow peas, avocados, fresh peppers, fresh broccoli, and beetroot.) 

What I found out on Friday? You should never go shopping on the way home from sitting an exam. Especially one you've sat just after moving into your new apartment properly. And when your finger is so numb from writing you won't actually be able to hold a knife properly when you get home (I wish I was joking - it took several days to go back to normal. It's still slightly numb if I press it.) 

So this time it wasn't to bad. 

Except at least last time most of what I bought was healthy - you know - fruits and veggies. 

This time? 

Super noodles. Curry flavor. You know - those ones that come in a blue foil packet with a flavor sachet that is 110% salt and 5% yellow food colouring? And vegan custard (why? I have custard powder at home. And that isn't full of sugar.) 

Several other things did make their way into my basket as well. The flour and banana that I had actually gone in for. 

For canned spaghetti which was 12p each or 3 for £1. Yes, you read that right. Please, if anyone is able - explain that one to me. My brain is physics-addled. I just can't make it add up. 

Seriously - I have no idea why those noodles made their way into my basket. Probably because they require no cooking- and are warm and savory. But I am really not proud. But last time I had an exam I went straight to bed and forgot to eat - at least this time I remembered to eat. Maybe. Are super noodles an improvement? 

I know why the custard came home with me. Plainly - who doesn't like custard - nobody that's who. Well - I never liked school dinner custard - but that was lumpy. 

And what better way to eat custard than with bananas (apart from apple crumble obviously)? Bananas - that's fruit right? That cancels out all the bad stuff. And it tastes good. What is it about bananas and custard that taste so good together? Apart from the fact that it's NOT fish fingers and custard?

And I had the perfect finishing touch already in my kitchen - chocolate.

The best way to eat bananas and custard (I have found from many trial and errors) is... heat the custard. Put it over the banana. Then top with chopped up chocolate, and leave it for a moment until the chocolate melts and forms a sort of chocolate sauce.

Sorted. Totally. And its fruit.

Yay me. 

Owl Cupcakes

Looks aren't everything. As is (quite clearly) evident. 

This is not the best looking owl cupcake that I have ever seen. If you want to look at beautiful pictures of gorgeously decorated professionally done pictures of owl cupcakes - Google it. Or check Pinterest. Its up to you. 

But are those amazingly awesome cupcakes vegan? 

Nope. See - I win there. 

That's not to say that vegan cupcakes can't look as good as professionally done ones - that's too say that vegan cupcakes can't look as good as professionally done ones WHEN I (with my un-superior skills) MAKE THEM. 

But hey - who cares what they look like - right? 

But I'm gonna let you into a little secret. I don't actually like cake. So when I'm trying to do a Girlguiding UK Challenge Badge (these are 'fun' badges created by different units, usually to raise money for that unit) and one of the things you need to do is to make a cupcake look like an owl - 

a) I am not going to get a load of stuff in that I don't eat to make them. I already had everything I needed to make these cupcakes in my cupboard apart from the icing sugar. (admittedly it was a fluke that I had the Skittles candy, but it doesn't change the fact that I still had it in my cupboard.) 

b) I am not going to make a whole batch. Cause why would I? 

It was pretty easy to 'just make these vegan'. To be honest - it didn't really require any special thinking - currently 99% of the food I own is vegan (I can only think of one thing in my cupboards which isn't) and so it really was just a case of pulling it out the cupboards. But in case you need a little inspiration (or want to follow what you think is an actually achievable owl cupcake decorating tutorial - not that I don't think you're capable of achieving greatness, I just like to think that I'm not the only one who's decorating skills are questionable.), here's how I made them. 

What you need: 

• 1 cupcake (I used the Single Lady Cupcake from Chocolate Covered Katie) 
• About a Tablespoon of chocolate icing - I made mine by mixing 1T cocoa powder, 2T icing sugar and then adding water by the 1/2 teaspoon till it was spreadable but not too runny. In the picture above the icing is thicker, but it was the best way to photograph it. 
• 1 orange/yellow Skittle candy or similar
• 2 dairy-free white chocolate and 2 dairy-free milk chocolate buttons (I got mine from Tesco) 
• A small amount of icing in a color of your choice. I chose pink because - why not. I made this simply by mixing a spoonful of icing sugar, some pink food colouring and about 1/4 teaspoon of water. Remember to go slow when adding the water. You don't want it so thin that it will spread uncontrollably. 

Now can we take a moment to appreciate that Skittles (in the UK at least) are now vegan. 

I know. 

It's great. 

Okay, so back to business:

• Spread the chocolate icing over the top edge of the cupcake. 
• Place a small dot of coloured icing on the centre of the the bottom (flat side) of the white chocolate button - I used a cocktail stick to do this. 
• Press the Skittle candy sideways into the centre of the cake. 
• Place the white chocolate buttons on either side of the 'beak' 
• Press two milk chocolate buttons sideways into the cake above the 'eyes' to make the 'ears'. 
• Feeding to poor, unsuspecting friend because you don't like cake is an optional step, but one that I find ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

Roasted Mediterranean Carrot and Celery Salad

So last night I got all my work done early so that I could write a blog post. Cause I love y'all. And I kind of have a backlog of things that I need to post. It's the curse of the killer lab report...

And then I spent SO LONG sorting out all my photos that.... no recipe was posted. I mean... I have no clue why I don't just sort out my photos on... I don't know... a weekly basis? Then it would take me.... tops 10 minutes. And it would be a lot less confusing and stressful. 

As it is it took me.... well long enough to listen to the ENTIRE and UNABRIDGED Alice in Wonderland audiobook. (As read by Scarlett Johansson - which was VASTLY better than the version I had as a child. I think it's only available on Audible - but if you have Audible I recommend that you go check it out!) 

So yes. It took a long time to sort them out. And I still haven't sorted them all out. I have big virtual piles of photos to sort through dating back from.... August. I REALLY wish that I was joking. And the worst thing about the whole situation (apart from the fact that it's not finished)? I probably wouldn't of done it if it wasn't for the fact that my iPod had used up all it's storage space. That's what having roughly 3000 photos does to storage space.... And I couldn't sacrifice either Frozen Free Fall or the Disney Tsum Tsum game.... so obviously it was my photos which needed to be sorted out. I mean... I think I had about 30 of one photo - just so I could find the PERFECT angle... 

The whole experience was also quite embarrassing... I realized just how many posts have been photographed.... but have never gotten to the stage where they have been published. Which is a shame because a lot of them are from summer/September when I had REALLY GOOD LIGHT. Something which I can barely remember it was so long ago.... 

This recipe is one of those. I can also tell you exactly when the photos are taken - because this was the dish I took to my universities VegSoc the first week I went...

So that was the middle of September. I know - long time no see. 

But better late than never - right?

This 'salad' (it was salad week) is based on one of the dishes from my favorite Mediterranean buffet. I mean - it's also the only Mediterranean buffet that I know of - but don't let that change anything for you. The actual dish was served warm (simply roasted veggies) and kind of greasy with olive oil. Greasy with olive oil is the kind of thing that's nice when served fresh out of the oven and warm - not so nice when eaten cold as a salad, so I scaled the oil back here. I also wasn't sure what herbs are used in the original dish - so I just went with two of my favourites. Try and slice the veggies diagonally - and get the slices as long as you can - they're much better for eating with your fingers that way! Lastly - I served it cold. I'm not entirely sure at what point you can call "roasted veg" a "salad" - but I'm gonna go with when they are cold.

I actually went to that buffet a few months ago for the first time in years. To be honest; it wasn't as good as it used to be. But this salad still tastes just like I want it to - so who needs to pay extra to have someone make it not as good? (Also it's like a 4 hour train ride away now I'm at uni).

If you want to serve it warm as a side dish - that's perfectly fine - but this is really good mixed together with other salads - either super simple just lettuce leaves and roasted carrot and celery, or a more complex mix of whatever salads you can get your hands on (leafy, veggie, grainy, pulse based etc). The flavors are distinctly herby - but they don't overpower or clash with other flavors - so go on and go crazy with the mixing!

Roasted Mediterranean Carrot and Celery Salad

Serves 2-4

• 1 cup carrot sliced diagonally 
• 1 cup celery sliced diagonally
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• several sprays of olive oil - or about 1 teaspoon

• Preheat the oven to 200C/390F
• Wash and prepare the vegetables. It's up to your own preference whether you peel the carrots or not (I'm not sure how you would peel the celery so I would advise against it!) 
• Mix everything together in an ovenproof/baking dish. I used an 8x8 pan
• Place in the oven and bake (roast) for about 30 minutes. The veggies should be soft - but not crispy/burnt or falling apart
• Give the veggies another mix before allowing to cool (or eating immediately). Remix before serving/taking a portion. 

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Sweet Banana Rice Brekkie

I almost just wrote 'sweet banana rice oatmeal' in the title box of this post - but I thought that that might be a bit TOO MUCH of an oxymoron. Can you have an oatmeal made out of... not oats? I did play around with porridge briefly - but that brought up scenes of gruel and austere meals. Which is weird - I grew up with 'porridge' - now it just sounds... so... 19th century.

I think I've driven my friend mad though. She's not a fan of how she has started calling porridge oatmeal. Apparently it's too much exposure to me and my weird vocabulary and my love of oatmeal. What can I say? Oatmeal's awesome. 

Yeah. We'll just have to go with Brekkie. I mean. It's not even a real word. 

But it's the best of a lot of bad options. And sometimes that's all that we can ask for. I make it sound like I'm talking about a life and death. Well.... sometimes breakfast can seem like a life or death situation. 

It was my birthday a few weeks ago. It was great. I had so much work to do. What could ever be more fun? Nothing right?

I also went to see a movie with my friends and the day after we went to IKEA. Obviously - IKEA was brilliant. 

The hilarious story about the plate I bought is ALREADY broken? Not so hilarious. It was put on the stove top so that food could be spooned onto it... but the stove-top was hot and...

Exploding plate.

 Yes. I mean literally exploded. As in - dinner and place going everywhere. And a bang. And a mess to clean up...

And a reminder to remember that stoves that have just been cooking for will be HOT and so you should NOT place plates on them. 

But for my birthday - my parents gave me an Internet grocery delivery. They gave me a limit and I was allowed to put whatever I wanted into the virtual grocery cart, and it was delivered to me at my flat at college... (at 9pm the Friday night of my birthday.)

I'm a student. Its free food. It was the best birthday present ever (or up there at the top of the list in any case...). My Nana also gave me a gift card for the grocery store near where I live. Thanks Nana!!! So far I've got Nutella, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips.... all important student living essentials...

But I tried to think carefully about what I got in my Internet delivery. First to consider was what I couldn't get near to where I am... I'm looking at you Purple Laughing Cow triangles, Itsu hot sauce and black beans.

Next was almond milk - because its heavy and cheaper to stock up when they're selling it for a £1... so I got a dozen cartons...

Then came the stuff that's kind of expensive and I would probably spend way too much time deliberating over and then possibly still not end up buying.... the grapes, the pecan nuts.

And then some stuff that I was simply curios about like rice porridge flakes. I was looking in the 'free from' section for something else (vegan mayonnaise) and saw it and thought it looked interesting. If a little expensive (£2.50 for a 450g bag). It's my birthday (or was) - why not try something new - right?

When my parents saw what I'd chosen - as well as commenting on the lack of tinned tomatoes and 3 packets of cheese triangles (you can't get the right ones here ANYWHERE. Unless I walk 2 miles) they commented on my rice porridge flakes. My Dad did that thing people do where they say they simply name of something and in the process convey a spectrum of slightly confused and other, more prominent negative judgements. My Mom just pointed out that I loved it as a baby so I'd love it now.

Sigh. Eye roll. Resist the urge to hit them (gently of course) with the packet.

Well... if I'm eating baby food I might as well do it properly. So I went super simple here - just rice porridge, milk, bananas and sugar. Although I'm actually against babies being given sugar....

It doesn't matter cause I'm not eating baby food. Tak very much Mom.

Sweet Banana Rice Brekkie

Serves 1

• 1/2 cup rice porridge flakes
• 1 cup milk
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 teaspoon sugar 

• Place the rice flakes and the milk together in a pan. You can cook this for a lower time on a higher temperature as the package suggests - but I found that it sticks way too much cooking like that; so I cook it for about 20 minutes on the lowest setting for the stove-top - stirring fairly regularly. You know it's ready when all the milk has been absorbed and the porridge has become thick, like a smooth rice pudding.
• Transfer to a bowl and top with the banana slices and sugar. 

Roast Beet Chili

I love roasted veggies. I mean - who doesn't? Roasting veggies intensifies the flavors - which is especially  effective with sweeter veggies - carrots, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, parsnips... and beets.

So when I got some beets in my veg bag - they were chopped up and in the oven before I'd really thought about what I was going to do with them. So... beets in the oven. What next? I didn't have any cous cous - so the everlasting veggie standby of roasted veggies and cous cous was out. With pasta maybe? Or rice. I think (well I know) that I have some risotto rice in the cupboard somewhere. Maybe save them and have them cold in a salad. Some salad without any type of leaves or anything? Some salad that would be....

Not that I would ever mind having a bowl of roasted beets on there own. But I hardly think I would be allowed to call that a balanced meal...

So I started thinking about what I was in the mood for. Made what I fancied the heart of my dinner instead of what I had. It's cold - it's windy. I wanted something warming - something that I needed a spoon to eat. Something like a thick soup, or a stew, or a chili...

Can you put roasted beets in a chili?

Apparently you can. It it makes a lovely rich chili, the color is obviously glorious, and it's hot and has all the right textures - with bits to bite into and bits to chew and squishy tomatoes and right now I probably sound very weird. But what can I say? It's a good chili.

Roast Beet Chili 

Serves 2-4 (depending if you have it on it's own or serve it with rice etc..)

• 2 beetroots
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 sticks of celery, washed and sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of cumin
• 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons of dried cilantro
• 1/2-1 teaspoons chili flakes (add more or less to taste)
• 1 14oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 6 small (plum/cherry) tomatoes, washed and quartered
• 100g frozen spinach (for me this is 2 'bricks'. If you want to use fresh spinach that should work - stir it in just a few minutes before the end instead)
• OPTIONAL: 3/4 cup Quorn mince
• 1 1/2 cups cooked black eyed beans (1 14oz can)
• 3/4 cup sweetcorn

• Preheat the oven to 200C/390F
• Thoroughly wash the beets, and cut into small dice. I didn't peel mine (just scrubbed very well) but if you would like to that's fine. Place the oven in a baking dish and cook for 30-40 minutes. The beets should be soft but not burnt or falling apart. I didn't use oil (mainly because I forgot) and this worked out fine (they didn't stick and were still lovely and flavourful) but if you want to use a bit of oil and actually roast them - go ahead. 
• When the beets are ready, take them out of the oven. Place the onions and celery in a medium saucepan with a little oil and saute for 5 minutes.
• Turn down the heat slightly, add the spices and a 1/4 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the veggies are soft. 
• Add both kinds if tomatoes, the roasted beets, the spinach, and the Quorn mince if using to the pot - and cook for 7 minutes, constantly stirring as otherwise the spinach has a tendency to remain together as a lump. 
• Add the black eyed beans and the sweetcorn and cook for a further 5 minutes, until everything is cooked through.
• Serve with rice, bread, baked potatoes or on it's own. Can be topped with yogurt, grated cheese etc if desired.

Of course - Nutritional yeast can only make an awesome thing better

Japanese Apple Bunnies - Usagi Ringo

This blog is no stranger to bento lunches. The only tag with more posts attributed to it is recipes (you can see all my bento lunches from the past 2 years by clicking on the word 'bento' under the heading 'tags' in the sidebar). But mostly my bento's have been 'american' style. 'Western' food cut into pretty shapes. Or just Western food with a few food picks to make it look pretty as possible as has been of late. But I decided that it's time I got slightly more authentic.

Not much I grant you - but this is more like a half way point.

So I thought I'd master the art of apple rabbits - or usagi ringo. Apparently they are used as a space filler in Japanese bentos. But they do also appear a lot in American style bentos. They're not particularly difficult - and as fruit carving goes it's really not very fiddly. And yes - for some people these won't look very much like rabbits. But they're a good place to start.

As you may notice I am by no means an expert in making these yet. Often I'll cut the skin to thin, or the apple slice will break, or I'll accidentally take the ear of the rabbit off. As you can see by the photos - the bunny rabbits decrease in numbers as time goes by.

1. Wash and dry the apple. I think that red or maybe pink apples look the best for these- there's less contrast with green apples between the skin and the flesh - but if you want to green bunnies go ahead. (I know actually have a strong desire to get a golden apple and have pink and yellow bunnies...) Also fresher - more 'crisper' apples are better for this if possible - because they're gonna soak in water for a bit and the crisper the apple to start with the crisper they will be after soaking.

2. Cut the apple into slices and remove the core. For most apples I'd say that splitting it into 8 is a good call. You don't want them too thin - it's really hard to fit the 'bunny' in then - but if they're too thick it's harder to do. I also like to 'square off' the top end a bit - but that's just me.

3. Starting at the top - cut (it won't work with a peeler) the peel away from the apple until about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way down. I TRY and do it so there's a thicker 'peel' at the top and have it thinning as I get nearer the end of the cut. Emphasis on TRY. But you don't want it TOO thin at any point because then it just breaks away.

4. This is possibly the most fiddly bit. You need to cut an longish isosceles triangle out of PEEL of the apple (don't cut into the rest of the apple if that is at all possible), with the base at the top edge of apple, where the peel is fully away from the rest. You now need to very carefully remove this triangle - but be aware- if you pull to hard you may remove the ears as well. And no one wants a ear-less bunny rabbit.

5. Mix a little lemon/lime/orange juice into a bowl of water/lidded container. It doesn't need to be a massive bowl - but the water needs to be above the apples when you place them in. Place the apples in the water. This stops them going brown quite as much when taken out and placed in a bento box. They should be here for at least 5-10 minutes, but if you only want a few bunnies for each bento they are okay in here for a few days.

6. Use them to cuten up pretty much anything!

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Lemon and Sultana Pancakes

You know when you see something in the grocery store and you convince yourself that you DON'T really want them and you'll make something better when you get home and ultimately convince yourself not to buy them?

You know what I'm talking about - right?

That was what happened EVERY SINGLE TIME I went to the grocery store last semester. Didn't matter which one I went to (apart from I guess the health food/middle eastern store but that was more because they didn't sell them...) - or what time of day it was, what I went in for or if I was hungry or not. 

I really wanted one of those packets of little lemon and sultana scotch pancakes that they sell. 

And I have really no idea why. I'd probably have one - max two and then not want anymore. But one or two little pancakes is not enough to keep me full - so I'd evidently end up eating something else with them and then I'd feel overfull - because I really don't need two breakfasts.

And what's worse - I probably wouldn't ENJOY them. I'd probably find them two sweet, the texture not right. I'd probably have those one or two - and then put the rest in the freezer. Where they would probably sit until the week before I need to move out of this flat at the end of the semester and then I'd have to panic about finishing a packet of pancakes I didn't want/like on top of panicking about exams. 

And who needs that?

So why did I crave these pancakes every-time I saw them. 

I have no clue. 

Well.... I do actually have several clues. Just because I know that I probably wouldn't like them very much now- doesn't mean that I don't remember liking them. Growing up - we always had a special breakfast on Saturdays. Special wasn't extraordinary. Sometimes Mom would make scotch pancakes or welsh cakes - often Dad would buy something from the store. Toaster waffles or brioche or hot cross buns or teacakes or crumpets ... pancakes. Two packets. One packet of plain ones for my brother (because yes - he is a weirdo who doesn't like raisins) and one packet of lemon and sultana. (FYI - we didn't eat a whole packet ourselves. Our parents would help. Often there would be some leftover). 

I loved the crispy edges and soft, fluffy interiors that arise from toasting them. How as they came out of the toaster oven they would be two hot to handle and you might drop them a few times trying to fish them out (because you obviously couldn't use a fork to do it - electrical shock risk). I loved how if you put butter etc. on them - they'd still have that hard, crispy, toasted outside but with a thin layer of intense flavor on top. (and to anybody who knows me - yes as a general rule I don't like butter. But I can remember how great it tasted when I did like it). Or syrup. Obviously syrup. Maple syrup that we used to much of and made our pancakes soggy with. How you could pick out all the sultanas before you ate the pancake and it would leave little holes where they'd been. The lucky dip of how sometimes you'd get seemingly hundreds of raisins - and sometimes you wouldn't get a single one and you'd be asking if one of the plain pancakes had gone for a walk and gotten lost in the wrong packets. 

I have seriously no idea why it took so long for me to get around to making these. I'd tell myself every time (so maybe twice a week on average) that I'd make these for almost 4 months. I guess I'm not very good at keeping the promises I make to myself. But for the first Saturday Morning pancakes back at uni - the day after my birthday and whilst prepping for a trip to IKEA - I found myself reaching for the raisins. I later found that I didn't have any lemon juice (or lemons) and okay - that was a bit (a big) flop in terms of the plan to make lemon and sultana pancakes - but who cares. I had some very nice sultana pancakes. 

My friend once asked me if I practised making things more than once before I published them on here. I answered that I TRY to - but it doesn't always work like that. This time I didn't post the first batch. I didn't plan to - it was kind of a busy morning. But it's a good job that I hadn't planned to. Because... well... 

First of all I had no lemon juice. And I could guess - but how could I make sure that I had the right amount of lemon if I didn't have and to add? And then there was the 'disaster' with the baking powder. It wasn't a disaster exactly.... it's just that I added way to much. Lets just say.... expect there to be a recipe for pickles coming soon. 

Lemon Sultana Pancakes 

Based on a recipe for drop scones from the Be-Ro Cookbook.

Serves 2, makes about 9 (sorry - I know 9 isn't divisible by two)

• 1/2 Tablespoon ground flax-seeds (ground lin-seeds)
• 2 Tablespoons warm water
• 1/4 cup white flour (plain/all purpose)
• 1/4 cup fine plain wholemeal flour/white wholemeal flour (this has a finer grind than normal wholemeal flour used for bread, and no bits. I recommend the Dove's Farm one)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoons applesauce (apple puree, not the stuff sold in the UK as a condiment. Apple baby food is the easiest way to buy it in the UK)
• 4-8 Tablespoons of milk (I used almond - but I'm pretty sure any type of plain milk would work)  
• 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice (I used the stuff from a bottle - but go ahead and use freshly squeezed if you want!)
• 2 Tablespoons of sultanas (This doesn't give pancakes with as much fruit in as the ones you buy, but it's enough for one fruit portion per serving of pancakes and I didn't want to add more as that raises the sugar content of the pancakes. If you like your pancakes with more fruit.... go crazy!)

• Mix together the ground flax-seed and warm water in a small dish. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes, stirring a few times. It should amalgamate to make a thick but kind of watery paste
• Combine the flours and the baking powder in a measuring jug. If you don't have one a smallish bowl is fine, but I find a measuring just works best for smaller batches of batter like this. 
• When the flax is ready, add that, the applesauce, the lemon juice and about 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) of the milk to the flour mix. Fold this in to form a batter. Test it for thickness - it should easily drop of a measuring spoon. If not add more milk. I needed 6 Tablespoons - but this does depend on the flours that you use so you will need to experiment a bit. Always remember that you can add more - but you can't take any away. Make sure that the first lot is stirred in fully before adding more. 
• Heat up a lightly greased frying pan. My Mom swears by a well oiled griddle for pancakes - but I've found that I get much better results with a frying pan and a spray of oil. Plus I don't have a griddle. It should be quite hot. 
• Fold in the raisins to the batter. 
• Drop the mixture onto the frying pan. I used 2 Tablespoons for each pancake and could fit 3 in the pan at the time. You need to make sure that there's enough room to flip them. 
• Cook for about 2-5 minutes on the first side, then use a spatula to flip them. You will know that they are ready because the edges will be solid and have changed color - although the middle will still be uncooked and liquid - and they will flip with the spatula very easily. Cook for roughly the same amount of time on the other side. Both sides should be golden brown. You don't want them too dark because then they will overcook if you have leftovers to toast the next time.
• Continue until all the batter is used up. I found that I needed to turn the heat of the stove-top down with each pan-ful - otherwise the pan would get too hot as time progressed and the pancakes would burn before they were cooked through. 
• I served mine with sunflower spread and honey - but syrup would also be more than great. They can be frozen and reheated in the toaster- just turn it down to the lowest setting so that they defrost first without toasting until they're burnt. If you don't use honey these pancakes are suitable for vegans. 

Oats

Not sure what's going on? Try here

21. What three endless food supplies would you take if you were going to be stranded on an island? (Imagine your nutritional needs have been met, these are a bonus!)

Okay - so you already know what my number one food supply would be- but here's my second one. 

Oats. 

I have an addiction to oats. The first few days here when I didn't have any were almost unbearable. Anyone who met me on those first few days is very aware of just how much I was missing oats. 

And then I almost had some sort of meltdown in the store because they DIDN'T HAVE ANY OATS. The shop assistant tried to convince me that they did - pointing to those little instant oat sachets - but they DIDN'T HAVE ANY OATS. Not real oats anyway. 

I had to go to the other store (which was more expensive) pretty much just to get oats. On the way home from the first store. Even though I had frozen veggies from the first store and so was almost certain to get food poisoning. 

Seriously - what type of store doesn't have oats? 

But I was talking to one of my new made friends about just how deeply this crisis had affected me - about just how lost I had been without oats. And he totally agreed with me - that sachets weren't really oats - that little bags are kind of pointless and not worth the effort - and that he loved oatmeal (or porridge) for breakfast. 

He said that he has oatmeal with raisins and nuts for breakfast practically every single day and never gets bored. 

At first - I only partly agreed with him. My mind was racing with all the variations that you could have of dried fruit and nuts. Fresh fruit and nuts. Fruit and seeds. Adding spices. Nut butter instead of  chopped nuts. All the specific variations.... strawberry shortcake oats. Lemon meringue pie oats. Carrot and blueberry oats. Cinnamon and raisin oats. All the variations were flashing threw my mind. 

Later I realized that he was right. That I didn't need all the endless variations- although I will still continue changing everything and coming up with many oatmeal variations. I didn't even need the nuts and the raisins. 

All I actually need is the oats. Because I will never get bored of them. 

Even if I had oats for every meal - I probably wouldn't get bored of them. They're creamy and comforting. And now I sound like I'm being soppy over a boyfriend or something. 

Is it possible to marry a bag of oats? Although it might get into the record book for shortest lasting marriage. 

Because a bag of oat's never lasts long in my life. 

Oatmeal with Nuts and Raisins

Serves 1

• 1/4-1/2 cup of oats - I normally use 1/3 of a cup. 1/2 cup is a bit to much for me- and 1/4 of a cup is more like a snack. 
• Twice as much liquid as oats (so I use 2/3 cup). I use all plant milk - but you can use all water- or half and half if you want. All water is obviously cheaper- but all milk is slightly creamier. My Mom doesn't like all water (she thinks it's gross) but personally I don't see anything wrong with it
• 1 Tablespoon of raisins (okay - so I used sultana's because that's all I had) 
• Chopped nuts- about 1 Tablespoon - although I used more because I was picking out nuts and chopping them - and I was too indecisive. 

• Add the liquid and oats to a pan. Put over a low heat and stir pretty constantly. It normally takes about 5-10 minutes. I'm pretty impatient - my oatmeal isn't always completely cooked when I eat it - but cook it until it's the consistency you prefer. 
• Top with the nuts and raisins. Alternatively - you can add these at the start of the cooking- so the raisins will because soft and juicy and the nuts soft. 
• If you want to cook these in the microwave- just stir the oats and milk together in a heat safe bowl and cook on high for a few minutes - watching to make sure that they don't boil over. 

Mexican Macaroni

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28. Tacos VS Burritos. Where do you stand on this important issue? 

The MoFo themes this year are asking too many important decisions from me. What's my favorite cookbook? My favorite herb or spice? My favorite cuisine? 

And now they want me to decide which is better- tacos or burritos? 

Life. Is not fair. :P 

I mean. How am I supposed to choose? Seriously?

So I bailed. I couldn't do it.

I had visions of angry mobs outside my door because I sided with the wrong team.

So I am staying completely and utterly neutral here. I'm not siding with any side. I may avoid eating both tacos and burritos for the rest of my life because I'm too scared that in 30 years time someone will see me eating a taco and will proclaim 'Ha - all along you were team taco!' when in fact I love them both equally.

I am like the Switzerland of the Taco VS Burrito world.

So here's some macaroni.

Mexican Macaroni
Makes 2-3 servings

• 1 cup of dried macaroni
• 1 cup of chopped veggies (for slower cooking veggies like carrots - steam them first for a few minutes) 
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups of black beans (or one can) 
• 1 Tablespoon of Mexican seasonings (I actually used a packet from a Fajita kit - and so I'm still remaining neutral) 
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon of tomato paste

• Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package
• In a large frying pan - saute the veggies until cooked with the Mexican seasoning
• Drain the canned tomatoes to get rid of most of the tomato juice
• Rinse the black beans and add to the frying pan with the chopped tomatoes, apple cider vinegar and tomato paste
• Cook for a few minutes till the sauce has thickened up and the veggies are fully cooked
• Add the macaroni and stir a few times to make sure that the noodles are fully covered in the sauce. 

Enjoy - while I go hide out in Switzerland. 

Warm Applesauce Drink

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21. What three endless food supplies would you take if you were going to be stranded on an island? (Imagine your nutritional needs have been met, these are a bonus!)

Right.... so number 3 was difficult to decide.... but the first, and then the second foods I would take were easy to decide. Basically - what is my favorite food that I am never going to get tired of? 

So.... number one. I should possibly say apples- because they are more versatile in their raw form - but I have a feeling that if I was stranded on an island - my biggest problem would not be making applesauce on some makeshift cooker out of a fire I have no idea how I would light (it's not a skill that I have yet mastered) and so maybe I'm better just taking the applesauce already .... well.... turned into apple sauce. 

This isn't really a recipe - more an idea accompanied by a unsatisfactory photograph - but.... 

One way that I really like to have my applesauce is mixed with milk - and heated up - I guess to try and make a sort of apple hot chocolate. I normally mix about 1/4 cup of applesauce with 1 cup of milk. I just heat it gently over the stove-top as I would if I was making oatmeal - but I'm pretty sure that it would also work in the microwave. This ratio doesn't produce a intensely applesauce-y drink - more like a warm milky drink with a sweet apple-y flavor. 

So I guess that it isn't really applesauce any more - more like a milky applesauce drink - but if you want a more intense applesauce you could always either increase the applesauce to milk ratio, or it swap the milk for either apple juice or water. 

But it's warm and comforting.... and good if you want a non-chocolate alternative to tea. Also - if you cook it over the stove- you get the warmth from cooking it as well as from drinking it. 

Vegetable Scheme Soup

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22. Make a dish using all seasonal produce

I did think about multiple seasonal products. I thought about walking around the supermarket and then picking up all the seasonal vegetables coming home and then making something spectacular.

But my university runs a veg bag scheme- and I suddenly got excited - and I thought that I would get one of those and then work with what I got in there. But they haven't started yet (although hopefully they will soon!)

So I had to rethink. And I've got to admit - although I mostly know what is and isn't in season right now - I'm not entirely sure. I mean - with supermarkets stretching out the seasons till - lets be honest - they're pretty much all year- it's hard to know exactly when the seasons actually begin and end.

I mean - I know that everyone is making pumpkin this and pumpkin that on the blogosphere (have I ever told you just how much I LOVE pumpkin season) but is it really pumpkin season - or is it slightly too early?

I mean.... I'd love to do something with pumpkin..... but I also don't want to use up all my pumpkin posts too early.... I mean.... I'd really love to do lots with pumpkin this year.

I mean - I also could of done something with apples - but I always do something with apples.

So I went back to the start.

And thought to the veg bags. If they had started yet - what would I get in there. And the answer was - I didn't know.

What I was certain I would get, is potatoes, carrots and onions. Because with all my experience in veg bags (we got one for a few years when I was younger) we got potatoes and carrots and onions every week. And I kind of get the impression that it's the same here.

So what can I do with potatoes and carrots and onions?

Um.... make soup. I'm in the mood for soup right now. But I promise- I'll try and make sure that this is my last soup recipe for a while. But expect lots of soup recipes in the future- because I don't think that my soup phase is done.

So..... going back to the original prompt..... I'm not sure if these even are seasonal produce. They actually seem to be more like ever seasonal. I may have created something made with three totally unseasonal ingredients.

But it's using veggies that always come in veg schemes - and so I guess it's useful to have a recipe for using up these ever-seasonal veggies in case there's ever a week where something goes wrong and I don't use up my veggies in other ways- and I have a surplus of potatoes and carrots and onions. Although my friend did say that she eats a lot of carrot sticks at uni - and I can see that she's right - because I'm already on my third bag of carrots since I got here.

I like this soup because it's basic. I didn't add any herbs or spices - other than stock powder- because I wanted to keep it basic. I guess like a canvas for other things. That way - I can make the same basic soup - and then change it up using what ever I have in or fancy at the time. This is a soup for add ins and toppings.

Vegetable Scheme Soup
Makes about 6 servings

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 lb of potatoes (this is before I peeled them and removed any eyes)
• 1 Tablespoon of stock powder
• Boiling water

• Dice the onion fairly finely. 
• Add the onion to a big pan - and sauté for about five minutes until the onions are almost cooked. 
• Whilst the onions are cooking - chop the carrots and potatoes into small chunks (I washed and peeled the potatoes- but just washed the carrots well) 
• Add the potatoes and carrots to the pan - and cook for about five-ten minutes. 
• Pour boiling water and stock powder into the pan - until it's about 1 inch above the top of the veggies. I should have measured out the water - I know. I think this is somewhere between  1-2 pints of water. 
• Cook until the potatoes- and especially the carrots - are soft. I reckon that this will take about 30-60 minutes- depending on how high a heat you're cooking them on.
• Take the pan off the heat and blend the soup. I didn't blend it completely - I wasn't that patient -  but about 90-95% blended. 
• But the soup back on the heat. If it's too watery - turn the heat up and cook (make sure it's uncovered) for a while till some of the water has cooked off. If it's too thick - and some more water and cook for a few minutes till it is incorporated. 
• Divide up the soup into portions. I added some beans I already had in the fridge and heated my serving through again so the beans weren't cold. 
• Oh... I also topped mine with hot sauce. 

Fresher's Soup

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26. Its cold and rainy and there's a snow drift outside your door! What are you going to make using the ingredients you have? 

Okay. So it's not that cold. It's late September. It's that oddly warm and sunny time when it's like the weather knows that you've only just gone back to school. It's not rainy. See above comment about the weather. But I do HAVE a cold. And I when I made this soup I had not yet worked out were the shops were in this strange unfamiliar city.

In case from everything above- it was not immediately obvious.... I made this soup in Fresher's Week. Officially called 'Welcome Week' - its basically just a load of young people spending the week getting drunk and trying to work out how to do Laundry.

Although if you don't drink - there is plenty going on. You don't have to be a complete and utter social recluse- however.... this is me... and so I stayed in.... and made soup.

All comments about just how weird that is are not appreciated. Who would choose a night out over a night in making soup?

All that chopping of veggies........ what's not to stay in for?

And I had actually worked out where the shops were.... but I had only been past them once... and at the time I had 5 minutes to get to a lecture that I knew was on the other side of the city but had absolutely no idea how to get there. (seriously.... I was redirected 4 times before anyone even gave me the RIGHT directions.... and was half an hour late to my first class. Luckily - I didn't really miss anything!)

So yeah.... no time to go in to buy anything to pad out my..... meagre produce collection. I didn't really want to bring that much fresh stuff from home. Just enough to get me through the first few days.

So I stuck with the basics.... apples, carrots and sweet potatoes. I would have bought banana's as well.... but I was pretty sure that they wouldn't survive the journey. So I didn't.

And spent the first few days with serious cravings for bananas and oats- and no bananas or oats.

But that meant that when I came to make soup... I didn't have that many options. I mean..... when making a veggie soup..... you do kind of need vegetables.

And fruit. Don't worry - I didn't put any bananas in there - but I did feel the need to make something more than a carrot and sweet potato soup - and so I threw an apple in. I'm sat here typing and beginning to think that maybe my parents are right - and that everything I eat is a weird combination. 

Freshers Soup
Makes about 4-5 servings (I have no idea how - I didn't include that many veggies!)

• 2 carrots
• 1 eating apple
•  1 sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon veggie stock powder
• enough water to cover the veggies
• 1 teaspoon dried time
• 1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1 cup of chickpeas - divided into two 1/2 cups

• Chop (and peel if necessary) the veggies. As I did this, I placed them in a plastic Tupperware container and topped them with water. This wasn't really necessary - but I did it anyway - so I only know amounts of water in 'enough to cover the veggies' (when I say veggies I'm including the fruit). I'm pretty sure that this would work if you placed the veggies straight into the pan and added water to cover. 
• Add the veggies, water, stock powder (you could also use a veggie stock cube), thyme, ginger and chili flakes into a pan, and cook over a medium heat. 
• When the veggies are soft (30-60 mins) take them off the heat and add 1/2 cup chickpeas. Blend until smooth. If the soup is too thick - add some more water. If it's too thin - place the soup back on the stove-top and cook on a high heat till the soup has thickened. 
• Add the remaining chickpeas, and heat over a gentle heat till the soup has warmed up.  

5 Spice Overnight Oats

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27. Favorite Herb or Spice? 

I did consider picking a herb to feature in a fabulous recipe that would leave everybody stunned in my amazing recipe creation. However - I would think that the fact that I would use dried herbs instead of fresh may negate how brilliant you think my hypothetical amazing recipe. 

So...... scrap that. 

I did think about using cinnamon.... but..... that felt like a bit of a cheat. I mean.... I use cinnamon all the time. And we're coming up to fall.... and then winter. So there will probably be a lot of cinnamon going around the place. 

So instead I thought that I would do something with Chinese 5 Spice. It's something that I really really love. I love how I can add it equally well to sweet and savoury dishes. I like the savoury sweetness. Like that's any sort of description. I like the warmth it provides.

Basically I like it. It's one of my favorites..... it seems to have an edge that... other spice blends don't. I know that some people aren't as fond of that edge as I am... but I really like it. 

I did make some orange-five spice bran muffins.... but I had put a lot of candid peel in them... and I wasn't to fond of it. I don't mind a bit... but the amount that I had put in was just too much. 

Before it's sat overnight

I thought about making five spice biscuits.... five spice noodles (although I already have a recipe for five spice noodle recipe)... five spice pancakes. I got as far as making a five spice omelet.... but I didn't think that I could give you that many unphotogenic recipes in one month. 

So in the end... I decided that I would feature the most often use that I have for five spice powder. I use it in oatmeal. But it was hot... and it was sunny.... so I did my five spice overnight oats. Because oats + summer = overnight oats. Although it is rather unphotogenic.... it's still looks a lot nicer than the omelet. 

5 Spice Overnight Oats

Serves 1

• 1/3 cup of oats
• 1 Tablespoon chia seeds
• 1/2 Tablespoon of sesame seeds
• 1/2 Tablespoon almond butter
• 1 carrot
• 2 plums
• 2 dried peach half's (you could sub a spoonful of peach jam or a canned peach half if you can't find the dried peaches.... but they really are amazing in this.... so if you can find them... use them) 
• 1 teaspoon goji berries
• 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
• about 1 cup of milk
• OPTIONAL: Liquid sweetener

• In a jar- or other container (preferably with a lid) mix the oats and chia seeds. It's better to mix them well now - because otherwise the chia seeds have a habit of clumping together and then it doesn't work so great
• Then mix in the sesame seeds. This doesn't need to be quite so great. 
• Grate the carrot (you can peel it as well if you want) and chop the plums and dried peaches into small pieces. Add these, the goji berries and 5 spice powder into the oats mixture. 
• Add the rest of the ingredient - the almond butter, milk and almond extract - and then stir well. Stir very well. You want to fully incorporate the almond butter into the milk - instead of it being a clump 
• Cover - and leave in the fridge. I don't know the minimum time for the chia seeds to work their magic because I've only done this and left it overnight - but leave for at least 3-4 hours. If it's still too liquid - either put it back in the fridge for a while longer - or add more chia seeds, stir and leave for the extra chia to work for about 10-20 minutes. 
• I don't normally add anything to sweeten my oatmeal - except I guess fruit - but here I do like to add a bit of a syrupy sweeter (normally I use Sweet Freedom) 

Mushroom Ramen

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25. Share Your Favorite Cuisine

Okay so if you read my blog often (um.... thanks I guess) then you can probably guess that my favorite cuisine is anything which you can legitimately use chopsticks for. Not that I have many qualms with eating spaghetti bolognans and veggie chili with chopsticks.... but anything I can eat using chopsticks without raising eyebrows is always nice. Although tbh - my family think I should just use a knife and fork period. But ah well. 

So..... I guess that means that my favorite cuisine is something Asian. 

Which to be honest- is perfectly fine with me. 

I guess that Asian isn't really a cuisine. I should probably narrow it down a bit.... but how to choose? I mean- sweet and sour? spring rolls? TEA? miso soup? sushi? stir fry? coconut milk pudding? fortune cookies? 

I mean.... seriously..... how am I supposed to choose? 

So I'll narrow it down another way....

Rice or noodles? 

Noodles won- but really only because they are a lot quicker/easier to cook. I mean- pan + boiling water + 5 mins = done. No washing or meaning and a lot less waiting. 

So.... noodles..... where next? 

What next was really a case of what I was in the mood for at the time. And due to the fact I had a cold and wanted warming and comforting..... I wanted ramen, 

Mind you.... who doesn't always ramen? 

Mushroom Ramen

Serves 1

• 1 serving of noodles
• 1/2 cup of cooked aduki beans
• 1 cup of stir fry veg (I used a frozen mix - but any veggie mix should be fine - whatever you have) 
• 1-2 spring onions
• 2/3-1 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon miso soup
• 1 cup boiling water
• OPTIONAL: Chili sauce (your favorite type)
• A few tablespoons of chopped seaweed (like nori or seaweed snacks)

Cook the noodles according to the packet. Rinse briefly and place in your favorite (or only) bowl

• Layer the aduki beans on top of the noodles
• Cook the stir fry veggies until just cooked and add to the bowl
• Slice the spring onion, and add to the bowl
• Slice the mushrooms (if not already sliced) and stir fry till cooked
• Boil the water, and mix with the miso
• Add the mushrooms, seaweed and chili sauce (if using)
• Pour the miso soup over everything in the bowl. This 'reheats' everything- so don't worry if the noodles are starting to go cold. Enjoy - the full cup of soup on top of everything else makes quite a full bowl full. Like I said- enjoy. 

I do assemble this in quite a layered- one at a time fashion. You don't have to do it this way - you can do it more together if you want.